TELECOMS group BT is expanding its high-speed fibre broadband network, potentially benefitting 40,000 homes and businesses in Greater Manchester. BT is pumping £2.5bn nationally into the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband. The latest expansion will take place in communities such as Ardwick, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Bolton, Leigh, Manchester city centre, Oldham, Pendleton, Rochdale, Trafford and Wigan, which have already been upgraded, as well as in Atherton, Collyhurst, Daubhill, Droylsden, Gatley, Horwich,

TELECOMS group BT is expanding its high-speed fibre broadband network, potentially benefitting 40,000 homes and businesses in Greater Manchester. BT is pumping £2.5bn nationally into the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband. The latest expansion will take place in communities such as Ardwick, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Bolton, Leigh, Manchester city centre, Oldham, Pendleton, Rochdale, Trafford and Wigan, which have already been upgraded, as well as in Atherton, Collyhurst, Daubhill, Droylsden, Gatley, Horwich,

BT is pumping £2.5bn nationally into the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband. The latest expansion will take place in communities such as Ardwick, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Bolton, Leigh, Manchester city centre, Oldham, Pendleton, Rochdale, Trafford and Wigan, which have already been upgraded, as well as in Atherton, Collyhurst, Daubhill, Droylsden, Gatley, Horwich, Longford and Wythenshawe, which are due to be upgraded later this year.

It will take the total number of premises with access to fibre broadband in Greater Manchester to more than 996,000 by the end of Spring 2014.

Mike Blackburn, BT’s regional director for the North West, said: “This is another important step forward for Greater Manchester. High-speed digital connectivity is vital to our long-term success.

“BT’s investment in fibre broadband allows communities to create new opportunities, growth and future potential. Anything you can think of doing online, you can do better with fibre broadband. It is a vital part of households and businesses making the most of the amazing opportunities increasingly offered by the internet.”

Matthew Kershaw, digital infrastructure policy manager at Greater Manchester Chamber welcomed the investment, stating: "The new services that the technology makes accessible are a huge boost for productivity, competitiveness, profitability and quality of life"

Some new figures released...although I have to say my connection is not 12mbps...mine still averages approx 8-8.5

New Ofcom figures show a further upturn in UK broadband speeds.

The UK's average home broadband speed more than trebled in the four years to November 2012, according to Ofcom.

New research from the communications regulator showed that the average residential user could expect to receive speeds of 12Mbps last November, up from just 3.6Mbps at the same point in 2008. The latest figure represents an increase of one-third - or 3.1Mbps - over the preceding six months.

Ofcom attributed this upturn to the growing prevalence of higher-speed broadband services, with 77 per cent of consumers with a fixed-line connection subscribed to packages advertising headline speeds above 'up to' 10Mbps - an increase of 19 percentage points on the figure recorded a year earlier.

The proportion of super-fast broadband subscriptions is also on the up. Some 13 per cent of household connections offered these speeds in November 2012, compared with just five per cent in the corresponding month of 2011.

Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said: "Our research shows that UK consumers are adopting faster broadband packages to cater for their increasing use of bandwidth-heavy services such as video streaming

Not been a lot to report on the SFBB front recently, however not an upadate (albeit not the most interesting)...

Public consultation launched on Greater Manchester broadband

A public consultation has been launched in order to discover where investment is required for better broadband access across Greater Manchester.

Covering eight of the metropolitan borough councils of the region, the work is hoping to see which regions are in need of the services the most. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities is applying for government and European funding to improve services.

It is hoped that the technology will enable every home and business in Greater Manchester to access speeds of a minimum of 2Mbps, while providing over 30Mbps for 90 per cent of premises.

Stockport Council’s chief executive, and AGMA Broadband Project lead Eamonn Boylan, said: "Greater Manchester's ambition is to become one of the world’s top 20 digital cities by 2020. Reliable, high-speed broadband access is becoming increasingly important for homes, businesses and public services. However, the availability of broadband services and speeds vary significantly.

"This public consultation is designed to ensure we fully understand the areas that have gaps in broadband infrastructure and are eligible for public investment.

Mr Boylan went on to say that broadband suppliers, businesses and residents are being asked to comment on the proposed target areas, which will help to make sure the provision of superfast broadband is more widespread.

Councillor Peter Williams, cabinet member for economic development and customer services at Rochdale Borough Council, also commented on the news, explaining that the authority is dedicated to making faster broadband possible, as it provides a host of economic, social and educational advanatges.

It is hoped that the investment will enable residents to take up superfast broadband irrespective of where they are located.

The technology will bring a number of new opportunities to web users, allowing them to download larger amounts of data, such as films and TV shows, and load websites at a quicker speed

Manchester City Council has been awarded up to £10.74m, subject to meeting agreed conditions, from the government's Urban Broadband Fund to spread the advantages of ultrafast broadband and digital inclusion.

Initiatives which if approved will be delivered before spring 2015 include:

Business connectivity voucher scheme, £3.65m: More than 2,000 businesses expected to benefit from support to fund preliminary works enabling ultrafast broadband to be installed. For small and medium sized businesses with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover below £37m.

Wi-fi in public buildings, £2.7m: Enabling 130 public buildings including libraries, leisure centres, adult education spaces and other cultural and community facilities to offer free wi-fi in a significant expansion of the city's Freebee network.

Wi-fi on public transport, £440,000: Extending access to free wi-fi via the FreebeeMcr network to Metrolink trams and Metroshuttles as part of a wider package of funding.

Manchester Science Park Smart and Connected initiative, £2.95m: Creating ulfrafast connectivity in a demonstrator project to encourage research and development activities and prove to businesses the potential value of high speed performance, helping to stimulate further demand.

Airport City Enterprise Zone ducting, £500,000, subject to confirmation that this conforms with European Union state aid rules: Funding the incorporation of ducting enabling new roads to accommodate high speed broadband infrastructure into Manchester Airport City Enterprise Zone.

Manchester City Council said additional funding was being discussed with the Department of Culture, Media & Sport that could bring further investment to the city. Manchester and 22 other cities were originally awarded money to improve digital infrastructure across the city under the Government's Urban Broadband Fund last year. The bulk of the money was to have been used to increase the availability of ultrafast broadband to businesses across the city. But, in common with other cities which had been awarded funding, the council was asked by the DCMS to go back to the drawing board because of concerns that schemes would fall foul of strict European state aid regulations. EU rules state that state funding cannot be used to provide infrastructure in urban areas where it is deemed that commercial roll-out would be theoretically viable.

Bury North MP David Nuttall has called for funding to be used to improve broadband in Greater Manchester.

Speaking to the Bury Times, he noted that some residents in the area are disadvantaged as a result of not receiving high speed internet access, but the area has been handed £990,000 by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

It is hoped that the money will improve access throughout eight of the county’s metropolitan boroughs, though Manchester and Salford are exempt because they are not part of the funding arrangement.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has consulted with a host of broadband providers and a number of postcodes covering regions such as Greenmount, Tottington and Nangreaves.

Tottington was found to not have providers delivering basic broadband, while several areas across the borough were discovered to have no providers of “Next Generation Access” services.

Speaking to the news provider, Mr Nuttall said: “Those who live in areas which have very slow broadband access speeds are seriously disadvantaged in this digital age. Although in recent months we have seen some progress — for example in Nangreaves thanks to the hard work of local residents — there is still much to be done.

“The Bury Rural Inequalities Forum has been working hard on this problem for a number of years looking for solutions in those areas which still do not have realistic broadband access speeds.”

He added that he is hopeful some of the £1 million allocated to the area will be spent in Bury in order to boost broadband speeds.

Mr Nuttall also urged constituents who are concerned about the consultation to make their views known to the public.

Recently, the Institute of Directors (IoD) claimed that internet connections are now holding back businesses in rural areas of the UK.

The group found that 45 per cent of users are unhappy with their speeds, compared to 34 per cent who are content with the services being offered to them.

More than 3,500 extra businesses and homes in the north west can access super-fast broadband from BT.

Telecoms giant BT announced the expansion of high-speed fibre broadband in the north west as part of its £2.5bn commercial roll-out of the technology in the UK.

Around 3,500 households and firms in the region will be able to get the service as a result of extra investment in communities already upgraded.

The latest expansion will include parts of Astley Bank, Blackfriars, Mottram, Woodley and Wigan.

Engineering works will be completed by the end of spring 2014.

Across the region, more than 1.68 million households and businesses can now get fibre broadband and this figure is expected to reach more than 2.34 million by the end of spring next year.

Mike Blackburn, BT regional director for the north west, said: “We’re pleased to announce further investment in fibre broadband as part of our continuing commitment to make the technology as widely available as possible.

“Fast, sophisticated connections are the cornerstone of a successful community, impacting on many aspects of modern life and providing a platform for new businesses and jobs.

“Future-proofed fibre broadband transforms the way people use online services – from entertainment and education to shopping and social networking.

“It can also enhance the competitiveness of local firms, speeding up the way they do business and giving them access to cost-saving ‘cloud computing’ services.”

Talking digital: How we can help you with £3,000 towards the costs of superfast broadband

In an ultra-competitive environment, Manchester businesses need to do all they can to gain an edge.This is as much the case when it comes to digital infrastructure as with other aspects of their day-to-day running.

That’s why Manchester council has launched a new initiative to help businesses access superfast and ultrafast broadband.

The faster download and upload speeds offered by superfast and ultrafast broadband services – three to five times quicker than conventional broadband – open up an array of possibilities.

It’s quicker and easier to transfer large files, use online back-up services to protect data and use higher quality videoconferencing and other services. And the efficiencies involved in saving time are obvious. We have launched a scheme giving Manchester businesses up to £3,000 support towards the physical costs of getting a broadband connection directly into their business premises, meaning they only have to pay the VAT and monthly subscription cost.

There is no catch, but there are of course conditions. The vouchers are for small and medium-sized enterprises – from self-employed homeworkers to established firms – with fewer than 250 employees, as long as their turnover is less than around £37 million (50 million Euros) a year.

Accessing the vouchers is a straightforward two-step process. The first is to complete an application form at Manchester.gov.uk/superconnected and after that eligible businesses will receive a provisional offer. They then need to obtain quotes from two different providers and send them to us. If approved, businesses will be sent a virtual voucher.

Any who do not complete the application process in time for the first phase will have their details carried over into the next phase of the scheme early next year, but I’d say the sooner they can experience the benefits the better.

Our colleagues at Salford council are also running an equivalent scheme for businesses there – details can be found at Salford.gov.uk/superconnectedBut the initial pilot scheme only lasts until the end of September so eligible businesses need to be ‘superfast’ to make sure they are included.

BT has taken us completely by surprise after they quietly revealed, through a series of low-key regional updates, that an additional 19 telephone exchanges had been squeezed into their national £2.5bn roll-out of superfast broadband (FTTC/P) products around the United Kingdom. No this time it really is the final batch of locations, truth!

Readers might recall our July 2013 story (here) in which we broke the news that an additional 9 telephone exchanges had been nudged into the operators commercial deployment and at that time we had no reason to believe that there would be any further updates after that.. well nothing as big as this. But after a little prodding we’ve learnt there are now 19 more.

BT, which didn’t feel as though this news was significant enough to warrant a press release (beg to differ), has stealthily added a further 19 locations into its commercial roll-out that should all be enabled by spring 2014. The intended coverage in these exchange areas will serve around 195,000 extra premises with up to 80Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology.

In addition, BTOpenreach will also carry out additional “infill” work in 293 previously announced telephone exchanges areas. The number of premises enabled for fibre broadband as a result of this infill work is around 250,000 homes and businesses. You heard it here first

So that looks like the lot for time being, but fri what I gather even though many many exchanges are already SFBB enabled in the GM area, hundreds of cabinets still need to be enabled, a default date of MARCH 2014 has been given for completion of these.

Eight local authorities across the Greater Manchester area (e.g. Bolton, Salford etc.) in North West England have each agreed to contribute £312,500 (total £2.5 million) to help boost superfast broadband (30Mbps+) coverage in urban areas.

Greater Manchester’s Local Broadband Plan is designed to be “complemented” by Manchester City Council’s and Salford City Council’s Urban Broadband Fund (Super-Connected Cities) award of £12 million from the Government and more funding is also being sought from the EU.

The project’s original aim was to make superfast broadband speeds of at least 30Mbps available to areas where slower sub-2Mbps connectivity remained the norm. But it’s worth noting that the threat of EU competition delays have since forced the Government to scrap the infrastructure part of its original commitment and adopt a scheme of so-called Broadband Connection Vouchers instead.

The Vouchers are designed to help local businesses cover the cost of installing a new superfast broadband ISP connection, although the Government are consulting upon whether or not it could also be extended to include other premises, such as residential properties (here and here). The funding can also be used to help improve urban WiFi coverage.

However it’s important to stress that the city council areas of Manchester and Salford are subject to different arrangements for state aid and funding, which means that the new allocation of £2.5m could potentially still be deployed in a different way. On the other hand £2.5m is just a drop on the ocean for such a large urban area.

At the time of writing a final plan for how the money will actually be spent has yet to be published.

The Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) office has announced plans to spend £1 million on a roll-out of free wireless Internet (WiFi) connectivity across all 800 buses in its fleet during 2014. The fleet will also benefit from real-time GPS tracking to improve live timetable accuracy.

It’s understood that TfGM’s new fleet of 50 single decker buses, which were constructed at a cost of £9 million, have already been equipped with the wifi service for routes in Oldham and Bolton. The rest should be upgraded throughout 2014.

The wifi upgrade is expected to be supported by a small slice of the £12 million that was allocated to Manchester and Salford under the UK Government’s Urban Broadband Fund (Super-Connected Cities) scheme.

Small and medium-sized businesses in Manchester and Salford are being offered a share of a £100m cash pot to help with the costs of a high-speed internet connection.

Businesses in the two cities are eligible to apply for a grant of up to £3,000.

A total of ten UK cities have been selected as part of the first phase of the broadband connection voucher scheme.

Through the scheme vouchers are provided to meet the costs of installing a fast internet connection directly into business premises. Companies employing less than 250 people, sole traders and self-employed home workers who do not already have a fast connection could all be eligible for the grant.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Up to £3,000 of broadband vouchers for small business in these cities is not only a massive boost for growth in the UK, but also has the potential to bring China to Cardiff, Brazil to Bristol and the Emirates to Edinburgh in an increased export market.

"As part of our economic plan, I want to give our small businesses every possible advantage to compete in the global race – and also the flexibility to locate or set up right across the UK. To do that we are working on a complete overhaul of the UK’s infrastructure; high speed broadband is a vital part of this."

Councillor Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council's lead member for Digital Manchester, added: "This grant funding will help businesses across Manchester to upgrade their existing internet connection, enabling them to use the most up-to-date IT services to work faster and more efficiently."

The Greater Manchester Councils of are the latest to sign on the dotted line with BT, in a BDUK project with a total fund of £15m. The key point is that premises in the City of Manchester and the City of Salford are excluded, businesses in those two areas should benefit from the super connected city funding. The other councils which are Stockport, Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Tameside, Oldham, Trafford and Rochdale have all contributed to the partnership and Stockport will operate as the lead authority to reduce the administration costs, i.e. avoid duplication of roles in all the councils.

The project expects to use the £15m to take fibre based broadband to an extra 39,000 homes and businesses on top of the roughly 900,000 premises (both cities are included in this figure) that already have access via the commercial roll-outs. Council Tax data from 2012 indicates the total number of homes is 1,182,892 and the number of homes in the eight councils that are part of the project is 852,492, thus the 39,000 is a small percentage but as no exact percentages have been released it is not clear how close or not this takes coverage in the eight councils to a mythical 100% coverage for fibre based broadband. Our best estimate is that current coverage is around 95.2% (based on Ofcom figures) and thus after the project will be around 99.77%.

"

Quote:

We want to see Greater Manchester become one of the world’s top digital cities by 2020. The eight local authority areas, with their active local business communities, will play a crucial role in this.

Access to fast and reliable broadband is becoming increasingly important for homes and businesses. These proposals would ensure local businesses can make the most of digital technology - boosting the local economy, generating growth, creating jobs and attracting further investment."

Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive of Stockport Council

The £15 million of the project is made up of £4.999 million from the ERDF (aimed at stimulating local business and economic development), £4.6 million from BT, £3 million from the BDUK and £2.5 million from the eight councils. There is no indication of how fibre rich the roll-out will be so far to assume it is FTTC based, but the ERDF funding may allow for some business areas to see native FTTP or subsidised Fibre on Demand (FTTPoD) services.

BT has been awarded a multi-million pound deal to roll out faster broadband to homes and businesses across Greater Manchester.

The contract is part of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities' (AGMA's) efforts to transform Manchester into one of the world's top 20 digital cities by 2020, reports Computerworld UK.

Under the £14 million project, superfast broadband – delivering speeds of at least 30Mbps – will be made available to 90 per cent of local properties by next June, while all other premises will be guaranteed basic connectivity of 2Mbps or above.

Transport for Greater Manchester led the procurement scheme on behalf of the AGMA – a body made up of all ten councils across the region.

It's hoped that the initiative will encourage businesses to become more productive and sustainable through the use of web-based technologies, and also drive the growth of organisations in the digital sectors.

Plans for Manchester and Salford include the rollout of wireless internet services in public buildings and Wi-Fi on public transport, as well as the launch of a connection voucher scheme to help businesses and residents get online.

Long shot, but does anyone on the forum have any contacts to speak to re. individual cabinet activations? I swear there has been a ****-up with the Chips building in New Islington... Half the building can get Fibre while the other half cannot, makes absolutely no sense! The building is served by 2 cabinets off the MRCOL exchange, but only one of the Cabs has been activated, despite, to the best of my knowledge, the cabinets sitting next to each other in the basement of the building!! Have tried BT, Sky etc. but they can give you no information at all, that great uncontactable Openreach is who you need to speak to but it's impossible!

Long shot, but does anyone on the forum have any contacts to speak to re. individual cabinet activations? I swear there has been a ****-up with the Chips building in New Islington... Half the building can get Fibre while the other half cannot, makes absolutely no sense! The building is served by 2 cabinets off the MRCOL exchange, but only one of the Cabs has been activated, despite, to the best of my knowledge, the cabinets sitting next to each other in the basement of the building!! Have tried BT, Sky etc. but they can give you no information at all, that great uncontactable Openreach is who you need to speak to but it's impossible!

Do you have any idea how many properties are served by the cabinet serving the half of the development that have not been SFBB activated? as there is a minimum number of properties that a cabinet must serve before they (openreach)will consider upgrading it.